Bow configuration

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a bow configuration for sliding convertible tops of vehicle constructions or containers with rigid or flexible bulkheads and sidewalls and to longitudinal belts being formed of profile rails and limiting the height of the configuration. A tarpaulin which goes over the top area of the configuration is supported by bows ( 1 ) which are arranged in predetermined, regular distances from each other and which span over the width of the loading area and which are supported at the longitudinal belts of the configuration. Said bows are supported at both ends horizontally as well as vertically by means of a roller trolley ( 5 ) or a corresponding roller arrangement which encompass the longitudinal belts at least partially. Said bows are guided in the longitudinal direction along complementary configured guide rails of the upper longitudinal belts of the construction. The aim of the invention is to provide for a bow configuration which allows to easily create single-piece bows of any form or size together with the necessary bearings for support rollers and guide rollers. It is also the aim of the invention to provide for a sufficient hardness of the areas of the bow which form the roller trolleys. To this end, the shaft of the bow ( 2 ) is configured as one piece together with the roller trolleys ( 5 ) which guide and support the shaft at both ends of the guide rails of the upper longitudinal belts of the configuration.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a bow formation for folding tops which can bepushed together on vehicle bodies or containers having rigid or flexibleend walls and side walls and upper longitudinal flanges which limit theheight of the body upwards and are formed by profiled rails, wherein atarpaulin which fits over the roof region of the body is supported bybows which are arranged at predetermined, uniform spacings from oneanother and span the width of the loading surface, said bows beingsupported on the longitudinal flanges of the body and supported at theirtwo ends both in the horizontal and vertical directions in each case bymeans of a roller carriage which at least partially grips around thelongitudinal flanges or by means of a corresponding roller arrangement,and are guided in a longitudinally displaceable manner oncomplimentarily designed guide tracks of the upper longitudinal flangesof the body.

Tarpaulin roofs are known in practice in which the roof tarpaulin issupported by bows which are not connected in an immovable manner to theframe of the vehicle body. The bows are basically used whenever at leastoccasional loading of the vehicle or container from above is required.In the case of the simplest known design of a tarpaulin roof of theabovementioned generic type for vehicle bodies or containers, the bowssupporting the roof tarpaulin are connected to the upper longitudinalflanges of the vehicle body or of the container in such a manner thatthey can only be detached from the longitudinal flanges by beingremoved, and the tarpaulin has to be rolled up for the purpose ofopening the tarpaulin roof. In such a form of design for a tarpaulinroof the bows can indeed be designed in a very simple manner, but theopening of the roof necessitates a considerable expenditure of energyand effort.

In the case of another design, which is known in practice, of tarpaulinroofs for vehicle bodies or containers, provision is made for the bowswhich support the roof tarpaulin to be supported at both ends viarollers or the like in a longitudinally moveable manner inguide-rail-like profiled forms of the upper longitudinal flanges of theframe of a vehicle body. Although tarpaulin roofs of this type aredistinguished in that opening of the roof can be brought aboutrelatively easily by pushing together the tarpaulin and bows, they are,on the other hand, affected by the disadvantage of a considerable outlayon production for the equipping of the bows with suitable rollers. Thisis true in particular if the roller arrangement in conjunction with theuse of a commercially available profile material for the design of theupper longitudinal flanges of a vehicle body or of a container has to bedesigned in the form of a roller carriage, as is the case with most ofthe sliding folding tops which are currently customary.

One design, which is known in practice, of bows which are provided atboth ends with a roller carriage for supporting and guiding in profiledrails makes provision for the bow to consist of a bow shaft, which isformed by a length section of a continuous hollow profile material, andof roller carriages connected to the said bow shaft at both ends, theroller carriages being prefabricated as independent units and beingconnected to the bow shaft. Although a design of this type involves thebows being less expensive, because of the possibility for decentralizedproduction of the roller carriages and the simplicity of the connectionthereof to the bow shaft, it is still affected by the outlay forassembling the bow which consists of a plurality of parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a bow formation fortarpaulin folding tops or tarpaulin roofs of vehicle bodies orcontainers, which permits bows of any desired shape or size to berealized together with the required bearings for supporting and guiderollers, in particular roller carriages, as single-piece components at avery low outlay, and in which, moreover, sufficient strength is alsoensured for the regions of a bow which form the roller carriages.

In the case of the bow formation mentioned at the beginning, this objectmay be achieved in that the bow shaft is designed as a single piecetogether with the roller carriages which guide and support it at bothends on the guide tracks of the upper longitudinal flanges of the body.

A bow formation of this type opens up the possibility of forming a bowin its entirety, i.e. together with a bow shaft and roller bearings, inparticular roller carriages, from a simple hollow profile section andtherefore of avoiding the conventionally required constructional outlayfor assembling the bow.

A particularly suitable method of realizing bows which are designed as asingle piece together with their bearings on the upper longitudinalflanges of the vehicle body resides in the fact that the bows consist oflength sections of a hollow profile material of any desired profilecross section, the roller carriages which are arranged at the two endsof the said bows being formed by non-cutting deformation of the hollowprofile material.

In a particularly preferred construction, provision is made for thehollow profile material in particular forming the shaft part of a bow tohave a square or rectangular profile cross section and to be compressedin both end regions of a bow to form a double-layered flat materialcross section and, in order to form a roller carriage, to be angled atleast approximately perpendicularly with respect to the profile axis ofthe hollow profile material.

Excellent stability is achieved by the end regions of the bows, whichend regions form roller carriages, compressed to form double-layeredflat material cross sections and angled perpendicularly with respect tothe profile axis of the hollow profile material, by the fact that thetwo wall regions of the hollow profile material which rest on each otherin the region of each end, compressed to form a double-layered flatmaterial cross section, of a hollow-profile-material section forming abow are connected non-detachably to each other, preferably via meansreaching through them, in particular rivet bolts. In order to obtain thedesired stability, provision may also be made in accordance with theinvention for the wall regions, which rest on each other, of the hollowprofile material to be connected to one another non-detachably andnon-displaceably relative to one another by the application of weldingpoints or using another suitable joining method, but in the interests ofthe least possible outlay on production, provision is preferably madefor the rivet bolts, which reach through the two wall regions, restingon each other, of each of the ends, compressed to form a double-layeredflat material cross section, of a hollow-profile-material sectionforming a bow to be formed by the rivet bolts which are in any caserequired for connection of the bearings for the running or guide rollersof a roller carriage.

In a further refinement of the bow formation according to the invention,in order to increase the stability of the end regions of the bowsforming the roller carriages, provision may furthermore be made for theangled portion of the end, compressed to form a double-layered flatmaterial cross section, of a hollow-profile-material section forming abow to include a bulge which is orientated as an extension of thelongitudinal extent of the bow, and the double-layered flat materialcross section to be provided in the region of its angled portion with aninwardly directed reinforcing bead.

Specifically, then, with a respective adaptation to the othercharacteristics of the folding top for which the bow is intended in eachcase, provision may further be made for the ends, compressed in eachcase to form a double-layered flat material cross section, of ahollow-profile-material section forming a bow to be provided with tworunning rollers rotating about axes orientated in an axially parallelmanner to the bow shaft and with at least one guide roller rotatingabout an axis orientated perpendicularly with respect to the axis of thebow shaft.

In a further adaptation of the bow formation to particular formations ofthe folding top for which the respective bow is intended, provision mayfurthermore also be made for the ends, compressed in each case to form adouble-layered flat material cross section, of a hollow-profile-materialsection forming a bow to form, as an extension of the bow surface, afastening plane for bearing elements for a tarpaulin, which bearingelements connect adjacent bows to one another, the bearing elementsconsisting of a semi-rigid material, in particular of a plastic materialreinforced locally, and being connected to the end regions of the bow bymeans of rivet bolts.

In this case, according to a further feature, the bow formationaccording to the invention is not exclusively limited to the provisionof the bow with roller arrangements or roller carriages, but maylikewise also be used with equally great advantage in conjunction withother forms of designing the bow support on the upper longitudinalflanges of a folding-top frame, in particular by the fact that the ends,compressed to form a double-layered flat material cross section, of ahollow-profile-material section forming a bow each form a bearing for apair of struts supporting the bow against the guide tracks of the upperlongitudinal flanges of the body.

Further advantages and features of the invention emerge from thefollowing description and from the subclaims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in greater detail below using a preferredexemplary embodiment of a bow formation according to the invention andby reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a side view in sections of a bow provided with a rollercarriage.

FIG. 2 shows an end view of the bow according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the bow according to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 shows a side view, likewise in sections, of a bow provided with aroller carriage, on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of a portion of a folding top that is pushedtogether.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The bow 1 for a folding top 20 having a folding top body 23 for use on acontainer 25 (FIG. 4) or a vehicle body 24 (FIG. 1) of a vehicle isillustrated in sections in the drawing and in its entirety. The bow 1 isof mirror-inverted design for the purposes of the illustration, and is,as is indicated in particular in FIG. 1, produced from a single-piecelength section of a hollow profile material having a rectangular profilecross section, in particular of a thin-walled hollow profile material ofsteel quality. The hollow profile material, which has a rectangularprofile cross section and in this cross-sectional form forms the shaftpart 2 of the bow 1, is, as can primarily be seen from the illustrationsin FIGS. 1 and 4, compressed in the two end regions of the bow 1 to forma profiled shape which has two flat material regions 3 and 4 resting oneach other. In its two end regions, which have a profiled shapecharacterized by two flat material regions 3 and 4 resting on eachother, the bow 1 is angled essentially perpendicularly with respect tothe profile axis of its shaft part 2 in order to form a roller carriage5, where in order to increase the stability of the roller carriage 5provision is made, in the embodiment shown, for the angled portion 7 ofthe ends, compressed to form a double-layered flat material crosssection 3, 4, of the shaft part 2 to include a bulge 6 which isorientated as an extension of the longitudinal extent of the bow shaft2, and for the double-layered flat material cross section 3, 4 to beprovided in the region of its angled portion 7 with an inwardly directedreinforcing bead 8. In the embodiment shown, the wall regions 3, 4,resting on each other, of the hollow profile material are connectednon-detachably and non-displaceably to one another by means of the rivetbolts 16 which reach through them and are in any case required forconnection of the bearings 9 for the running rollers 10 and guiderollers 11 of the roller carriage 5, two running rollers 10 which rotateabout axes 12 orientated in an axially parallel manner to the bow shaftand a guide roller 11 which is arranged at a distance from the runningrollers and rotates about a vertical axis being provided. The ends,which are compressed in each case to form a double-layered flat materialcross section 3, 4, of the hollow-profile-material section forming thebow shaft 2 are orientated as an (extension of the bow surface 13 andform a fastening plane for bearing elements 14 for a tarpaulin 21, whichfits over a roof region 22 of the folding top 20, which bearing elementsconnect adjacent bows 1 to one another, the bearing elements 14consisting of a semi-rigid material, in particular of a plastic materialreinforced locally, in particular at 15, and being connected to the endregions of the bow 1 by means of rivet bolts 16. Folding top 20 can beopened by being pushed together. As shown in FIG. 5, bows 1 can belaterally moved (i.e. pushed together) sol as to reduce the distancebetween the bows 1, thereby deforming semi-rigid bearing elements 14,such as by bending or folding, and opening folding top 20.

What is claimed is:
 1. A bow formation for a folding top body for use onone of a vehicle body and a container, said folding top body having sidewalls and upper longitudinal flanges, said upper longitudinal flangeslimiting a height of the folding top body upwards, said upperlongitudinal flanges being formed by profiled rails, wherein a tarpaulinfits over a roof region of the folding top body, comprising: bows forsupporting the tarpaulin, said bows including a bow shaft, wherein saidbows are arranged at predetermined, uniform spacings from one anotherspanning the width of the roof region, and wherein said bows can bepushed together, wherein each of said bows includes a length section ofa hollow profile material, said hollow profile material having arectangular profile cross section and being compressed in each end toform a double-layered flat material cross-section and including anangled portion, the angled portion being angled substantiallyperpendicularly with respect to a profile axis of said hollow profilematerial so as to define a roller carriage, wherein said bows aresupported in the horizontal and vertical directions by said rollercarriage which at least partially grips around said longitudinalflanges, and wherein said roller carriage is supported on saidlongitudinal flanges and is guided in a longitudinally displaceablemanner on guide tracks of said upper longitudinal flanges.
 2. The bowformation according to claim 1, wherein a first flat material region anda second flat material region of said hollow profile material are incontact with each other and are connected to each other.
 3. The bowformation according to claim 2, wherein said first flat material regionand said second flat material region are connected via a rivet bolt, andwherein said rivet bolt at the same time forms a connection to a bearingfor one of a running roller and of a guide roller of said rollercarriage.
 4. The bow formation according to claim 1, wherein said angledportion includes a bulge which is orientated as an extension of alongitudinal extent of one of said bows, and wherein the double-layeredflat material cross section is provided in a region of said angledportion with an inwardly directed reinforcing bead.
 5. The bow formationaccording to claim 1, wherein said double-layered flat material crosssection is provided with two running rollers rotating about axesorientated in parallel to said profile axis and wherein saiddouble-layered flat material cross section is provided with at least oneguide roller rotating about an axis orientated perpendicularly withrespect to said profile axis.
 6. The bow formation according to claim 1,wherein the double-layered flat material cross section forms a fasteningplane for at least one bearing element for said tarpaulin, wherein saidat least one bearing element is configured to connect adjacent ones ofsaid bows to one another, said at least one bearing element consistingof a semi-rigid material and being connected to said double-layered flatmaterial cross section of said bows by a rivet bolt.
 7. The bowformation according to claim 1, wherein the double-layered flat materialcross section each form a bearing for a pair of struts supporting saidbow against said guide tracks.
 8. A commercial vehicle comprising afolding top which can be pushed together, comprising: a body of saidfolding top; upper longitudinal flanges which limit a height of saidbody upwards and comprise at least one guide track; bows which arearranged at predetermined, uniform spacings from one another and spanthe width of the body, each of the bows having a bow shaft and two endportions; and a tarpaulin being supported on said bow shafts of saidbows, wherein said bows include length sections of a hollow profilematerial of rectangular profile cross-section, wherein said hollowprofile material is compressed at both end portions to form adouble-layered flat material cross section, wherein at least a portionof said double-layered flat material cross section is angledsubstantially perpendicularly with respect to a profile axis of saidhollow profile material for defining a roller carriage, wherein at leastone roller is provided in said roller carriage, wherein said bows aresupported in the horizontal and vertical directions by said rollercarriage which at least partially grips around said longitudinalflanges, wherein said at least one roller is guided in a longitudinallydisplaceable manner on said guide track.